New drinks are here at Starbucks! Well, in fact, almost here. Beginning on June 24, 2014, Starbucks will launch two new national summer beverages: The Shaken Iced Peach Green Tea and the Blackberry Mojito Tea Lemonade. Starbucks now offers Teavana Iced Teas in all their United States locations. If you’re in a “sunbelt region,” which is extends from Southern California to Florida, across the southern part of the U.S., you’ll get the chance to try the Starbucks handcrafted sodas: Ginger Ale, Spiced Root Beer, and Lemon Ale.
You can try these new drinks early, if you are a member of MyStarbucksRewards. Just use your registered card to pay for your drink. In case you need more information about rewards, here’s my quick summary article on the rewards. For more information, contact Starbucks Customer Service. Your card can be at any level. You do not have to present a gold card to try these beverages early. In fact, all of your rewards are associated with your profile on Starbucks.com/card, and not in the actual card itself. When any card registered your account (loaded with money on it) is swiped at the register, it accesses all of the perks for your specific MyStarbucksRewards rewards level: Welcome, Green, or Gold.
Early access for the new drinks is June 20th through the 23rd.
So pull out your Starbucks card and enjoy the new beverages! Blackberry Mojito, here I come!
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Thanks melody will be definitely trying Friday
Ok if they are going to offer this early roll out, then make sure it is available! The partner at my local store looked at me this morning like I was crazy. Oh no we do not have that! Next week.
@Purple1 – I’m sorry to hear that! Someone at the store didn’t get the message that drinks start early if you have a registered card. 🙁 I’m going to try ordering the Blackberry one later this morning.
So glad the peach green tea lemonade is back. Also anxious to try the blackberry. I’m not sure what the purpose is of having them available to members only for a few days though. I’d be afraid that someone in line behind a member getting one these drinks would be offended and put off when told they can’t have one since they don’t have a registered card. I could be wrong but it just doesn’t seem like the best idea to me. Just make it available to everyone at the same time.
@BeckyE – That’s a good point. Hadn’t thought about the person standing behind the MSR member. Of course, logistically, this seems weird. You order a beverage, but the barista has no idea if you’re a MSR until you hand them a Starbucks card – and by that point, it’s possible someone has already started your drink. I think this is going to have to be a ‘just say yes’ promo, because it seems like it would cause bad customer relations to try and say, “oops, no you can’t have that drink because you’ve handed me an unregistered card or don’t have a Starbucks card.”
@Melody, @purple1 and @BeckyE brought up the two main situations that I thought of when I first heard of this promotion.
Too often businesses do not fully comprehend the unintended consequences of their promotions or policies. I sense another poor training element here.
@DadCooks – On the other hand, I think this kind of promotion is in response to the people on MyStarbucksIdea.com who want to try drinks early – I can’t find any threads right now, but I know I’ve seen ideas where the MSI-er wanted to be able to buy beverages early because of his/her MyStarbucksRewards membership. This probably does make that group of customers very happy.
I’m about to run out the door to my office. Will try to buy a blackberry mojito very soon and see if that works.
Well put Dad Cooks! I also wonder how many rewards customers really know about this promotion. I guess SB will have to see if this promotion makes customers happy or angry! And then the question arises as you said Melody if there are so many angry customers will the partners just say yes. Then, what is the value of the promotion?
@Purple1 – I assume that the value of the promotion is in the 8 million people who feel like they get an early drink before everyone else. – Starbucks boasts 60 million a customers a week, and about one in four (very roughly) is an MSR member. If half those people check their emails, then maybe some small percentage are encouraged to come in early to try a new drink – it drives sales and makes those MSR members feel great. I would guess that’s why they’re doing it. If 1 in 8, actually checked and read this email, and some small percentage acted upon it – maybe 2 or 3 % of customers today would order an early drink??
In any case, I ordered a blackberry mojito with zero problems. Didn’t phase my neighborhood barista, who knows me by the way. I like it!
I tried the Blackberry Mojito Tea Lemonade. I’m kind of on the fence about it. I’m not sure if it was made properly as I did not taste any lemonade flavoring. The drink tasted like plain ice tea. Bummer.
Tried the Blackberry Mojito in Trenta today. Was good before the ice started melting, but is starting to be watery. If you’re one who feels like the shaken teas tend to be watery, I would tell your barista to keep it on the stronger side when they make it. I also think I’d like it better with less lemonade.
And is it just me, or are these at a price premium? My tea was nearly $5. I could have sworn a shaken passion in trenta was about $3 in my area.
I tried to order the Blackberry Mojito Ice Tea Lemonade, but they only put in green tea and blackberry syrup! They said that’s the way they make it! HUH? Lemonade? Mojito, mint, lime? No one at my store new how to make it and then insisted they were doing it right. Very disappointed 🙁
I tried the Blackberry Mojito Iced Tea Lemonade at Owasso, Ok store! It was fabulous!
I was told I needed a gold membership I showed them this and they said their manager said only to gold members, I still showed them the article on this website and they said no. This was at the Starbucks at cherry orchard sunnyvale California. I’m pissed!! I love the green tea.
My local Starbucks in central Indiana knows nothing about this promotion this morning.
@Michael Danylchuk: With all the due respect the Manager is right, only for Gold members until Tuesday.
@Tim – That’s not right. The plain words in the promo say, “Just pay with your registered card.” This was NOT exclusive to gold.
And in any case, this is a perfect example of where partners should create inspired moments. There isn’t anything positive for the Starbucks experience to be gained by acting like the deputy-marshal-guard of blackberry syrup. It makes no sense why anyone would act like that over a syrup bottle. And we both know, you order before you swipe the card. Really, this is a promo open to all, because I’m sure the register would let you order regardless of form of payment.
In any case, if was definitely NOT for just gold members. That language doesn’t appear anywhere in the promo materials.
@Michael Danychuk – You should call Customer Service and let them know of your experience!
In my opinion this promotion is a disaster. Last night I saw the SM at my local store and told him my experience with a partner in the morning. Bottom line- communication is awful not only between corporate and the stores but between the SM and partners.
@Purple1 – The only place I can talk about is Seattle – here, the promo has worked flawlessly.
I think the larger issue is teaching partners that in moments like this, say ‘yes’ – Create great experiences, and err on the side of spreading Starbucks joy, or in this case new syrups. There’s nothing to be gained by acting like blackberry syrup lives at Fort Knox. However, I’m confident that the percentage of times where the experience goes wrong, is the tiny minority of times.
I tried to order the new shaken ice teas today and everyone working at the Starbucks I went to said they had no idea what I was talking about. This is the second time this has happened to me where there is a special promotion yet the employees know nothing about it.
My local Starbucks said they were only offering to gold. I ordered a blackberry mojito iced tea lemonade, but I didn’t taste the lemonade st all. My try again in a week or so, they seemed really confused by the new drinks.
@Kathy – Sorry to hear that you went through such confusion! I was actually told the same thing by a licensed Starbucks in Seattle today, though they easily relented when I argued with them – but it shouldn’t be a situation where you have to argue to be able to get a drink.
Thanks.
Definitely got the offer to try the new drinks as a gold member from June 20-23 before they are on the menu. Tried to order it once at my regular-stop Starbucks. They looked at me like I was crazy also. The cashier hadn’t even heard of them. She had to ask the manager, who knew about the drinks but said they weren’t available until next week. But because he knows me, he “would do me a favor” and make me one. Ok. No big deal really. But I didn’t think the offer was meant to be a “favor.” Then I got grief from 2 other employees when I went back for a refill. “Oh my god! How did you get this already???? They’re not out until next week!” I was like, sorry??? I feel like I did something wrong! LOL!!!!!
I used my reward card this morning in Tulsa, OK and had no problem at all. They were excited to make my order.
Wow, I guess I’m a lucky one — and now I realize how lucky! Like Melissa, I ordered one at a Tulsa Starbucks and they were happy to make it. And it was on the day they came out early, last Friday the 20th. I even only had 4 stars at the time so I wasn’t even green level. They had no problem with it and the barista was even excited about me ordering it because she said they’d just gotten it in and she was excited to try it herself.
Southern hospitality??
@Josh I doubt it (Southern Hospitality- although as a born and raised southern girl now living in the north, I do miss it) as when I ordered mine the only thing they cared about was seeing my registered card. He just said ‘yep, you’re in the club’ when he swiped it and that was that.
I don’t know that they can even tell what level we are unless we’re either handing them a gold card (which in theory could be off if a person didn’t continue to earn the 30 stars) or redeeming a beverage? Someone with partner and Sbux POS system experience would know better than I on that.
@Nikki – You bring up a great point – one that I’ve seen both partners & customers confused about. If you hand a card to a barista, they can swipe it and see that it’s registered. If it’s registered, even at the Welcome level (less than 5 stars), you’re in MSR.
If you have a barista a gold card, it really only means that once upon a time, you were gold, and likely you still are. But rewards have now been around for years. It’s very possible that there are lots of people walking around using a gold card from 2010, 2011, 2012, or even 2013 where the person is now just at the green level, because the person didn’t make enough purchases to maintain gold.
Having a physical gold card does NOT tell if you a person is gold.
And again, all these things are partly why when Starbucks does these kinds of promots, they simply make it for ALL MyStarbucksRewards members – much easier.
@Melody That is a very good point, and on the flip side, you have people like me, who are gold, and are using their same card from 2010. I don’t use my gold card because my regular card from 2010 is fairly uncommon today. It was one of the white ones that looks like the side of a hot to go cup where you could literally ‘customize’ the card the way you would a drink. Most partners have never seen one, only a few (less than 5) have, and only 1 or 2 has ever offered to make me the drink on the card. But it’s much more a conversation piece than handing them the 50 millionth gold card that day.
But I digress. I don’t think that the promotion is or should be limited to a level, because after all, they wouldn’t know for sure until the card has been swiped and the POS accepts or declines the transaction….and by then, esp in a busy shop, your drink has likely already been called and placed in queue.
Not quite sure why some managers are saying it was for Gold members only…..
Time for the old guy to step in with a “in the good old days” story.
Not so long ago, when there was more sincere customer service, when a new product (food or beverage) first came in the Baristas would offer the Regulars a sample (full size) the week before the release date. This actually was a great training tool. The Baristas learned how to make the beverage or heat and present the food item for public consumption. Our feedback was welcomed. Alas, no more.
Whatever happened to treating each and every customer as if they were your most important customer? Because this has disappeared could explain the rise of the entitled constant complainer.
Finally had an opportunity to try all the new drinks. The blackberry mojito tea lemonade was by far my favorite. Thank you for all the new info and keep them coming.
This drink is amazing! It is my new favorite … and very refreshing.
I had a similar experience. I have a gold card, and use the phone app to pay most of the time. I ordered the new Peach Green Tea during the early promo time at the drive through – barista said no, even after I explained that I have a gold card. Once I got around to the register and showed her, she said no again. I gave up and left buying nothing. This is the same store that told me I wasn’t entitled to my free birthday drink unless I told them I earned it BEFORE I ordered anything. If my rewards come up on my card, then that makes no sense…. I live in Seattle and being that there are about 5 stores on every block, I just go to a different one where people seem to know what they’re talking about.
loved the root beer